


Set Her Veins On Fire

by Bookfish



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 03:33:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12974976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookfish/pseuds/Bookfish
Summary: A Zutara drabble with a couple scenes... but mostly consistent theme. Implied Kataang.





	Set Her Veins On Fire

“Your people are still waiting for you to give them a Fire Lady.” 

Fire Lord Zuko’s head jerked up from sipping his tea to fix a sharp look on his Uncle. “I know.” They’d had this conversation ten times before in the past month alone. He tired of the repetition. As if he needed reminders of his bachelor status and his people’s expectations for the Fire Lord. 

“It’s been three years since you…” Iroh paused when he saw the glare his nephew was fixing on him. “Since Mai left.” He amended carefully. Bringing this up made Zuko irate enough without him implying it was somehow Zuko’s fault. 

“I know.” Zuko grinded out tiredly. Three years since Mai and Zuko’s relationship soured and turned cold. Three years since she left him for some peasant who adored her properly. Adored her in the ways that Zuko couldn’t. And that made it four years since Sozin’s comet, since the end of the war, and the beginning of his reign as Fire Lord.  
Four years since he’d discovered himself to be capable of loving someone deeply enough to throw himself into the path of a lightning bolt. Four years since she’d walked away from him to be with the Avatar, because it was her destiny. Four years since he’d sworn to himself that he’d never let himself love so deeply ever again. Never.

Iroh watched Zuko’s burning irritation melt into the too familiar resigned melancholy that seemed to linger whenever he was in private. Zuko had gained skill in hiding his feelings behind a calm mask when he was among his advisors or people… he’d grown up so much. It made Iroh ache to know that he was the only person who ever saw Zuko without his walls up. Walls that Zuko had taken four long years to build. It seemed like only a tsunami could break them down now. Setting his tea cup down with an uncharacteristic clatter, Iroh managed to bring his nephew’s golden gaze whipping around from a distant tapestry to focus on his face. 

For a long moment they just stared at each other before Zuko reluctantly caved in and asked. “What?”

“Nephew. You cannot make your people wait forever. You cannot wait forever.” Because they both knew that was what he was doing. He couldn’t chase her and her blue eyes across the world. He could only write letters and wait. “You have waited long enough…” 

There was a flash of brokenness across Zuko’s face, because he knew Iroh was right. He’d waited four years. For all his conviction, patience, and stubbornness… nothing had changed. Nothing would change. Because she was bound to what she saw as her duty. 

Zuko lowered his gaze to glare at his cup, as if a cup could offer an answer to his broken heart. “I know, Uncle.” He uttered softly. “I know.” And then he rose abruptly, settling his expression into the serious mask of the Fire Lord and sighed. “I have business to attend to.” Sweeping out of the room, he could hear his Uncle’s heavy sigh before the doors shut behind him. Moving past guard and servants, he started making orders, asking for schedules, having various petitions and papers passed through his hands to scan and then pass to another servant to take to his office. There was so much to do… but even as he moved like a perfectly poised Fire Lord, he felt like a heavy wooden puppet. Because his mind was elsewhere. Wandering down to the South Pole and her. 

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

The snow settled on her shoulders and lap should’ve told Katara she’d been sitting out on the ice too long. But she paid no heed to the elements or the cold on her face… her mind was far away. Where she was sitting, she could lean down to touch the water if she wanted… or turn her head and see the jagged scar from where Zuko’s ship had “docked” all those years ago at her side. Instead, she stared blankly off into the horizon… at the waves, and the bright sunset that painted the sky yellow, orange, red… like the Fire Nation’s flags. She pushed the memory of the Fire Nation palace and its gardens… the glowing golden eyes that had looked at her so seriously the last time she’d visited… the way he’d asked her if she was okay and the way she’d lied. She had to be okay. Had to be. Aang needed her to be. 

Shaking her head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts… thoughts about the plans she’d seen in Aang’s room for a betrothal necklaces, thoughts about running away… to anywhere but here, thoughts about how much she hated living in Republic City, thoughts about how hollow she felt these days. Why did her destiny leave her feeling so hollow? Aang always looked so happy when he said she was his forever girl and destiny. But somehow… she just felt empty. She’d thought she could love him properly… thought she could give him everything he wanted. So why was she failing?

The crunch of heavy footsteps on the snow drew her out of her tangled thoughts and back to reality. Aang was planning to propose. She’d have to say yes. He was finally sixteen… the age that Air Nomads normally would begin to start families (the ones that weren’t monks… but he was going to make an exception for her… she should’ve felt glad… but she just felt numb). His plans for carving her necklace had been on his desk… which meant it wouldn’t be long now. 

Hakoda sat down at his daughter's side and was quiet for a long moment, looking at the pensive look at her face before speaking. “Aang has asked my permission to marry you.” He said slowly, as if he were waiting for her to react somehow.

She looked to her father’s face and tried to force a smile… something… but instead she just looked at him… listening. Waiting for the death knell. Waiting for him to say he’d said yes. It never came.

“I’m going to tell him no.” Hakoda said finally, after a long silence. 

“What?” Katara blinked… feeling like she must’ve heard her father wrong. Surely he’d want her to marry the Avatar. It was a good match… a powerful match. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understanding why her father would say no.

“I’m going to tell him no… because I don’t think he is what you want. He doesn’t make you happy.” He looked at her seriously, reaching one hand out to clasp one of hers and run his thumb over her knuckles. Her hands had gotten so big compared to when she’d been a child. So strong. “I can see it. Sokka can see it. I want you to be happy, Katara. You’re my daughter.” 

Suddenly, she looked down… feeling ashamed, relieved, tired, and so, so, afraid. “I thought he was right. That we were destiny. That I was his prize for saving the world. His forever girl. But… it just feels wrong. I feel empty. I don’t… love him like that.” He didn’t make her feel anything when he kissed her… didn’t make her feel anything when she looked at him. He was like her friend… her brother… but not… he didn’t set her veins on fire, didn’t make her heart jump in her chest, didn’t make her feel alone when he was gone. When he was gone she just… felt abandoned and tired. And as the Avatar, he was often gone. 

“You’re not anyone’s prize, Katara. You’re a master waterbender. You’re a warrior. You should follow your heart.” Hakoda urged gently. “I’ll prepare a boat for you… and you can go wherever you want to go.” He could see the way her eyes suddenly turned to the sea with a new longing. She had somewhere she wanted to be. Someone she wanted to see. “Just… go pack your things… and I’ll tell Aang for you.” 

It was like her father’s words had finally hauled the gnawing weight of her destiny off her shoulders and she could breathe again. She was Katara the Master Waterbender. Katara who’d defeated Princess Azula. Katara who could bend blood. Getting up rapidly, she had to shake and wipe snow off herself. “You’re right. I will follow my heart, Dad.” 

Hakoda smiled proudly, standing up and settling a hand on her shoulder for a brief moment. “I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become.” 

“Thanks, Dad.” Katara smiled softly, wrapping her father into a hug before pulling away and rushing back to her igloo to get her things. 

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

The journey by boat was exhausting. Aang chased her through a blizzard and the shouting match that had ensued had been cathartic… but also painful. She didn’t want to hurt him… but she was tired of hurting herself for him. When he’d finally turned back, she’d been left with a sick guilty feeling in her gut. But somehow she’d convinced herself to keep going forward. She had to keep going forward. Because she had to hope she wasn’t too late. In the back of her mind, the scene from three years ago played itself over and over again.

_It had been New Years… and they’d all met in Ba Sing Se to celebrate. They’d spent hours in the Jasmine Dragon laughing and drinking… and then Zuko had wandered off. After what had happened with Mai… Katara decided to follow him. “Zuko? Is everything… are you alright?” She could see the way the alcohol had his cheeks warmed and his eyes bleary. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she probably looked the same._

_He’d looked at her so intensely. “Yeah. I just… are you… are you happy with Aang?”_

_At first she’d felt affronted… because how dare he suggest she wasn’t happy in her destiny? It was her destiny… wasn’t it? “Of course! Of course I am!” And then she’d felt the heavy sadness settle in as she looked at the man who’d taken a lightning bolt for her… the man who’d helped her get closure for her mother’s death… the man who never judged her for bending blood or for wanting to be more than a healer. “I… I don’t know.” She admitted… it was too easy to admit it with the alcohol loosening her lips. “He talks about wanting to rebuild the airbenders… and he’s always going off on Avatar business… I feel… lonely.”_

_One hot hand reached out to her and took one of her hands and squeezed it. “He doesn’t see it. He can’t see the way he hurts you.” He was so close… leaning in… hot breath on her face, golden eyes burning into her. “I wouldn’t…”_

_There’s a clatter in the shop and they pull apart before Aang comes bounding out of the doorway. “Katara! Come see! The Air Acolytes made me a present!” He’s shattered the moment… left her wondering what Zuko was going to say… left her thinking maybe they were just drunk and should let it go._

But it still haunts her. What was he going to say? What would she have answered? If they’d lingered there any longer… would they have given into the hot temptation that had remained burned into her skin for all these years? 

Her boat rushed into the docks of the Fire Nation… and she barely processed the odd looks that the soldiers gave her. Fatigue seeped into her bones as her boat finally reached the extended docks and she felt her feet give way from the wood of her boat. There was a distant shout… and then darkness.

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

The news that Master Katara had arrived in the Fire Nation spread like a wildfire. Fire Lord Zuko had come rushing back from one of his customary trips to look for his mother… practically flying through the hallways of the palace to reach the infirmary where the unconscious waterbender lay. None of his doctors could offer much aside from theories that she’d overworked herself travelling by boat using her bending. Perhaps she hadn’t eaten in awhile. Perhaps she’d merely been worn down by her trip. No matter what it was… Zuko was waiting at the side of her bed for the days that she slept. He watched the way her brow furrowed in her sleep as if she were having some mysterious dream. 

After four days, her fever broke and she woke up. She’d practically sprung out of the bed before he’d caught her and put her back under the sheets with care. “I don’t think you should go running around just yet.” He warned softly. 

Her hand clasped onto his tightly and she smiled despite looking so tired. “Zuko.” Her voice was so weary and sad. And then she said his name again, with a tinge of hope and longing that he’d never heard before. “Zuko.” 

“I’m here.” He uttered softly, clasping her smaller hand between two of his. She’d grown so much. Here she was… looking every bit a woman… and every bit a warrior. “But you have some explaining to do.” 

Her brow furrowed and then she looked a little guilty… before smiling sadly. “It’s a long story. Aang… was going to propose.” 

“Was?” Zuko’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what exactly that meant. He hadn’t proposed? What stopped him? Knowing Aang nothing would stop him from proposing to Katara.

“Well… he went to get permission from my father.” Katara said tiredly. “And my father told him no.” She sighed heavily… guilt settling in again. “Aang was so angry. I ran away and that made him angrier. I thought he’d sink my boat.” Her blood had run cold when he’d started to glow… started to look like he might tear her boat apart to keep her from leaving him. “We fought… and I told him the truth. I can’t stay with him. He smothers me. I can’t be what he wants. I don’t love him. I…” Licking her lips, she suddenly looked at Zuko so very desperately. “I don’t know… but… I think I… I want to be here with you for a while.” 

Zuko looked back at her… serious… thoughtful… maybe a little bit hopeful. “You can stay as long as you need to. You’re always welcome here.” 

She can remember so vividly how she’d felt waiting for his letters all these years… how she’d felt reading his letters… imagining the man he was becoming. Here he was… and her heart was racing in a way it never had with Aang. “Thank you, Zuko.” 

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

Months rolled past… and it started with shared glances, subtle touches of hands… secret smiles… and she knew… she couldn't leave if she wanted to. Settled by his side in the garden at night, she basked in the moonlight and imagined what it would be like if they could do this forever. Really, it’s such a nice idea. Forever with Zuko. They still argued, still clashed, but they forced each other to grow, to change their ideas, to work together. And there were moments like this one… peaceful moments where they can see the future clear as day. 

Maybe that’s why she didn’t pull away when he curled his arm around her. Maybe that’s why he didn’t pull away as she tilted her head backwards and then upwards to kiss his chin before kissing his lips. Maybe that’s why neither of them needed to say anything as she pulled the silk robes off him to run hands over his scarred abdomen. And when they melted into the grass, lips meeting and hands roaming each other, they didn’t pull apart. 

The aftermath was a whirlwind… but nobody argued with them. A betrothal necklace of beautifully cast gold depicting the spirits of the moon and sea swirling around a sun. A wedding that all of their friends and family attended. A night of passion together that felt like it could go on forever. Their future swept them up without them ever noticing. One child becomes three… a dragon only makes a family of five into a family of six… the wrinkles and grey hairs never take away the passion… and at the end of it all… they sit side by side on the porch of the home on Ember Island. 

“Do you think… we’ll ever meet again?” Katara whispered… her hand curled comfortably around her husband’s hand. 

“I think… we’ll meet again a hundred times.” Zuko answered, squeezing her hand one more time. “Because it’s our destiny.” 

And with that, she lets out a sigh… and he feels himself relax in turn… and it’s in a moment of perfect peace that their spirits depart together.

 

* * * * * * * * *

 

“I’d like a pumpkin spice latte for me and a hot chocolate for my friend.” The girl says, drawing the teen working at the cafe’s blue eyes down to her… and then down to the golden eyes of her friend who sits in a wheelchair and scowls.

“Sure.” He says finally, despite the nagging feeling that he knows those eyes. Adjusting his nametag that says Kato and moving to tap the order into the register, he finally asks politely. “Will that be all?” But he’s not looking at the girl who spoke, he’s looking at the one with golden eyes that slowly melt out of their tightened edges and mirror the softening of her lips into something of a small smile. 

“Yeah.” Says the girl that he’s not looking at. “That will be all.” 

“Actually…” The girl in the wheelchair speaks suddenly. “I’d like a cookie.” 

“But you…” Her friend turns, and frowns slightly. 

“I want a cookie, Jin.” She says, turning her gaze to her friend and letting the edges of her mouth move back down to a serious expression. 

“Fine… a cookie, as well.” Jin says calmly.

“Got it. Pumpkin spice latte, hot chocolate, and a cookie.” Kato cites back to them… and even as the rest of the purchase continues like any other… he has no idea the girl with the golden eyes is about to become a regular. Because really, she wants more than a cookie. Because she knows him. And she’s not going to let him slip through her fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> Um. Uh. I feel like maybe I'm the only person who likes Genderbent Zutara but if anyone wants more... I might make more eventually.


End file.
